Episode 1: Greetings
Post-Listening
Pronunciation
- Warm-up Questions & Vocabulary
- Present Simple of “To Be” & There is/are
- Listening Practice
- Word Stress & Syllables
- Rhythm: Sentence Stress
- North American English Alphabet & Spelling
- Stop Consonants /p/ and /b/
- Linking: Same Letters
- Intonation: Statements & Phone Numbers
- Reductions: it’s a, got to, Toronto
- Inference: Surprise
- Review
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Reductions
“it’s a, got to, Toronto”
Which is the more natural way to say this sentence, 1 or 2?
It’s a wonderful place to live.
The second one.
That’s because the words It’s a is reduced. A reduction happens when a sound is not said in a word or between words or when words are said less clearly. Like linking, a reduction is another way that a fluent English speaker saves time and breath when they speak.
In spoken English, It’s a can sound like itza and got to can sound like gotta.
Also, Toronto has a reduced form.
Most people who live in this major Canadian city don’t say To-ron-to, clearing pronouncing each letter. They usually say the city name without the first “o” and second “t”: Trono.